by Martha Carr
His voice faded away as he went to investigate.
Lisa looked up at Johnny as he crept toward the twice-unconscious Todd. “We need to hurry,” she whispered harshly.
“And I gave us a diversion. You’re welcome, darlin’.” He squatted beside the cameraman, slung the man’s torso over his shoulder, and stifled a grunt as he stood. “Now, we get the hell outta Dodge.”
Two dogs started up a furious round of barking across the street, accompanied by the car alarm that still blared in the middle of the night. The partners took the cross street on their side of the building to get out of sight. From there, they stuck to back alleys and stayed far away from open bars and restaurants and the pools of light from the streetlamps as they headed toward the hotel.
By the time Kellen returned to the front of the office building, they were already three blocks away. “No, it’s fine,” he said into his phone as he peered into the shadows. “It’s taken care of. Yeah, I’ll be there in a while.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Todd recovered from his second dose of knock-out juice a block away from the hotel. He groaned and shifted and his eyes fluttered open. “Hey, what the fuck—”
His elbow flailed and collided with the back of the dwarf’s head.
“Shit. Stop.”
“Let me go. What the hell?” The man wriggled so much, Johnny finally lowered his shoulder and let him tumble onto the sidewalk with a thump.
“Ow…”
“Look here, Todd.” The bounty hunter pointed at the man who stared at him in wide-eyed shock. “You ain’t got no business followin’ anyone in the middle of the night. Especially us.”
“I was only trying to—”
“Don’t matter what you were only tryin’. You almost fucked up a seriously high-level, top-secret, federal goddamn case, ya hear? You’re way outta line here, pal.”
Todd blinked quickly, then looked at Lisa. “Where’s my phone?”
“That’s what you’re worried about?” She shook her head and pulled his phone out. “Unlock it.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so, and if you don’t, Johnny will inject another of his tranquilizers into your neck, and you can spend the rest of the night passed out here on the sidewalk.” She leaned down, her gaze hard, and offered him the screen of his phone. “Do it.”
“Jesus. Okay.” He unlocked the device and she pulled it away and went through the video clips. “Come on. What are you doing?”
“Getting rid of the evidence you don’t have clearance to carry around with you.” Lisa deleted the last three videos on his camera, then tossed him his phone. “Don’t do that again.”
“Shit. That was good stuff—”
“It ain’t your place.” Johnny grasped the man’s upper arm and hauled him to his feet. “And you’re walkin’ a thin line already.”
“It’s my job, man.”
“And when I say back the fuck off and get rid of the cameras, I mean it!” Johnny snapped. “You’re lucky you’re walkin’ away from this with a groggy head and a few bruises.”
Lisa folded her arms. “Or that you’re walking away from it at all. I’m merely glad no one wanted to stick around to watch me rip you apart limb from limb.”
What little color remained in Todd’s face drained instantly. “What?”
“We managed to make them think I killed you. So now you’ll have to hide your face behind more than a camera phone until this is done.”
“I don’t get it.”
“You don’t need to. Get back inside.” Johnny shoved the man toward the front doors of the hotel and grunted. “And I need a drink.”
Todd stepped off the elevator on the third floor to head to his hotel room, and the two partners continued to the fourth floor on their own.
“Johnny, we need to put some kind of security on those two room numbers I gave.” Lisa swiped her fake red hair away from her forehead. “In case they decide to move on the hotel first.”
“It didn’t sound like that was part of the plan, darlin’. You wouldn’t have been handed a burner phone otherwise either.”
“True.” She reached back to pat the phone in her pocket. “Do you think they put a tracker in this too?”
“I’m bettin’ on it. Which is good.” He smirked. “It shows ʼem your story panned out. We’re in the Sagamore Pendry, and that’s part of what they wanted to know.”
She sighed heavily. “Right. Now I guess I wait for the call.”
“Yep.” Johnny reached for her hand and gave it a quick squeeze before he released it. “You did a damn fine job of it, darlin’. Even when it came to spoutin’ hateful shit about ‘the fuckin’ dwarf.’”
“Oh, yeah. That was fun.”
They chuckled, and the elevator doors opened with a soft ding. “Now I’m fixin’ for a nightcap and a full night’s—what the hell?”
A large group of people had gathered at the far end of the hall—Phil, the film crew, the on-duty hotel manager, and two other hospitality staff members.
“Mr. Walker?” The manager knocked on the door with a nervous grimace. “Sir, we’re getting noise complaints now about your dogs and you need to open up.”
The hounds bayed inside and scratched at the door in agitation.
“Mr. Walker?”
“Get outta here before I come throw you out.”
“Sir. I’m merely trying to understand the situation. And…and if you don’t open this door right now, I’m within my rights to open it for you.”
“Don’t worry about all that, now,” Johnny said as he strode down the hallway. “I’m back.”
The manager startled and turned quickly to see the dwarf heading toward him. He looked at the suite door and his mouth opened and closed in confusion. “I…you… Who’s—”
“It’s all right. Nothin’ to keep goin’ on about.” Johnny retrieved his wallet and gestured at the crew. “If y’all were lookin’ for Todd, he’s back in his room puttin’ ice on a few choice parts of himself. It’s time for the rest of y’all to move on.”
“Johnny…” Phil looked like he was about to explode.
“Now. I’ll make it worth your while tomorrow, huh? But get out of here. These folks have had more than enough to deal with for one night.”
With a growl of frustration, Phil gestured for the crew to head out before he stormed toward the elevators, shaking his head.
Johnny opened his wallet, pulled out a handful of twenties, and distributed them to the manager and the two staff members the man had brought. “I’m sure this ain’t the kinda emergency you fellas are used to runnin’ up against on the regular.”
“I… Well, no, Mr. Walker.”
“Johnny. Thanks for your concern. And this is for your troubles.”
The manager took the cash with wide eyes. His staff members exchanged a confused glance but pocketed the money instantly. “Right. So…who was that yelling at me inside your suite?”
“Naw, that was my voice all right.” Johnny leaned toward the man and gave him a conspiratorial smirk. “I hate to leave ʼem alone in there, but when I ain’t got another option, the recordin’ helps the hounds feel a little more comfortable. Otherwise, they tend to get unruly, you understand.”
“Unruly?” The manager stared at the suite’s door and frowned. “Worse than that?”
“You bet.” He flashed his key card at the door, pushed it open, and nodded at the hotel staff. “Enjoy your evenin’, fellas. Stephanie, why don’t you step inside with me for a spell?”
“Sure.” She smiled politely at the baffled hotel manager. “Thanks for everything. Have a good night.”
“Yes. Yes…y-you too…” The man stared after them until Johnny shut the door and slid the lock into place.
“Johnny!” Luther barked and raced across the suite toward the front. “Finally! You were gone forever.”
“Yeah, and we had to cover for you the whole time. Those two-legs out there are so gullible.”
“
Did you bring us any treats, Johnny?”
“You know, for a job well done?”
“In a moment, boys. Y’all did all right with the pedal.” He set the tranquilizer gun on the half-wall of the kitchen. Then, he stooped to pick up the pedal device and switched it off before he tossed it onto the bed through the open bedroom doorway. “I need a minute.”
He went to the kitchen to pour himself his usual four fingers of Johnny Walker Black and returned to slump onto the soft leather couch with a heavy sigh. “Well, that was somethin’.”
“It sure was.” Lisa joined him on the couch. “Your little spy-bug thing doesn’t pick up visuals too, does it?”
“No.” The dwarf raised his eyebrows. “What did you see?”
“The shifter. Kellen? He had a boar-shaped ring on his left hand. A few red gemstones and everything.”
“The damn mouthpiece, right?”
“It looks like it.” She grinned. “And Stephanie Wyndom has an in none of the other Johnny-haters were offered.”
“With the phone. Well shit, darlin’. You brought this all together to get it workin’ out just fine.”
“Thank you.”
“No, I mean it.”
“And you didn’t try to bust the door down even once.”
He snorted. “I wanted to.”
“I know.”
They sat on the couch for a few moments in silence as Johnny sipped his whiskey and thought over everything they’d heard. “We got an in. And until we bag the Red Boar, whoever he is, the feds can keep footin’ the bill and thinkin’ we’re still on the Hugh case.” He turned toward her with a grin and raised his glass for a toast, then paused. “Aw, shit. Do you want a drink? I didn’t even—”
“No, it’s okay.” Lisa laughed and waved him off. “I’ll toast empty-handed with you.”
“Naw, that ain’t a toast. It’s bad luck to toast with water, darlin’ and even worse luck to do it with a handful of nothin’.” He stood and headed toward the kitchen.
“Johnny, you can pour all you want but I’m not drinking your whiskey.”
“Just sit tight.”
She sighed and shook her head.
Luther padded toward her and rested his chin on her knees. “You got any treats for us, lady?”
“Hey, Luther.” She scratched behind his ears and chuckled. “It sounded like you guys had a real blast with that pedal, huh?”
“She doesn’t have treats, bro,” Rex said from where he’d curled in front of the armchair. “And she can’t hear you.”
“I know. But hey, the ear-scratching’s real nice. Yeah, yeah, lady. Keep that up.”
Johnny returned from the kitchen not with another rocks glass full of whiskey but with a wineglass. “Here you go. And don’t even think about tellin’ me you ain’t into wine, ’cause this is the same damn bottle you ordered up here the other night.”
Lisa took the glass and stared at him. “I took that bottle to my room with me.”
“Yep. And I had another brought up.” He sat on the couch and turned to face her with a crooked smile. “Now we can toast like partners oughtta.”
“Well.” She grinned and lifted the wineglass. “To partners.”
“And to Lisa Breyer’s master plan. Hell, I’ll even toast to Stephanie fuckin’ Wyndom while we’re at it.”
They clinked their glasses together, and Lisa took a large sip of her wine. “Thanks for this.”
“The toast or the wine?”
“Well, the toast was nice, Johnny. The wine’s even better.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” He sipped his whiskey and met her gaze. “A person oughtta have their drink of choice stashed away just for this reason. Reasons for celebratin’ come few and far between in my experience. I aim to be prepared when they do come around.”
She stared at her drink and tried to hide a smile. “And how often do you stock whatever kitchen you’re in with a bottle of someone else’s drink?”
Johnny snorted. “You got me, darlin’. This is a first.”
“Oh. Well then, I’m flattered.”
“You should be. Just don’t let it go to your head. You dropped a couple of real heavy bombs in that meetin’ about me.”
Lisa almost choked on her next sip of wine but managed to compose herself. “Johnny, you know that was all part of me getting them to trust me, right? I didn’t—”
“You didn’t mean a word, I know. Or at least half of it.” When he grinned, she chuckled with relief and shook her head. “That was top-level lyin’, darlin’. Well done.”
“And we’re this much closer to finally getting your justice.”
“Not mine. Dawn’s.”
She set her glass down on the coffee table and turned on the couch to face him. “Of course it’s for Dawn. And it’s also for you. After everything the Bureau did to cover up one hell of a mess they made, you deserve to get this all cleaned up. Don’t leave yourself out of the picture.”
“Huh.” Johnny sniffed and looked away from her. “I can’t argue with that one.”
“So don’t even try.”
He downed the rest of his whiskey and grunted. “Once we clean up the streets and take that Red Boar fucker in, I’ll still have a bone to pick with the whole damn FBI.”
“Well, I didn’t expect you to walk away from that. And you don’t have to tell me what that entails, but—”
“Naw, I ain’t exactly worked it out myself yet. But I’ll know how to handle it when the time comes. And then I’ll go back to my swamp.”
Lisa chuckled and shook her head. “Of course. And do what?”
“Whatever feels right.”
“It’s the best way to be if you ask me.” She tucked her hair behind her ear with a hesitant smile. “But I do hope you decide to keep working for the Department. Even after whatever giant ass-kicking you decide on dishing out when all this is over.”
“Ass-kickin’s the least of it, darlin’, although I ain’t too sure why you’d want that.”
Lisa scooted closer and studied the dwarf’s brown eyes, her smile growing. “Because if you’re done with federal cases, that means I’ll have to go back to DC and I’m not sure I want to do that.”
“Oh, so now you’re such a huge fan of the swamps you can’t stand leavin’?”
“And a few other things.”
She stopped him from saying anything else when she leaned forward and kissed him softly. Before Johnny could wrap his head around what was happening, Lisa pulled away and grinned. “But you still have time to think about it.”
The dwarf cleared his throat and watched her stand.
“Goodnight, Johnny.”
“Yeah. ʼNight.”
She pulled up her redheaded Stephanie illusion to make the trip across the hall, and he didn’t move until he heard both his suite door and the door to her hotel room close behind her.
“Whoa-ho-ho, Johnny!” Luther trotted toward him with wide eyes. “What did I watch?”
“Seriously, Johnny?” Rex’s head whipped from his master to the hallway. “She made a move. She made a move! Why are you sitting there?”
“It’s about damn time. Go get her!”
The dwarf snapped his fingers and both hounds fell silent. “It’s late, boys. I’m turnin’ in.”
Luther gasped and froze and stared at his master as Johnny rose slowly from the couch.
Rex snorted. “Are you feeling okay, Johnny?”
“I’m fine.”
The larger hound padded after him as he headed swiftly to the bedroom door. “You sure? Come here and let me smell ya, Johnny. ’Cause if you’re turning down a lady like that, I think there’s something wrong with you. Hey, come on. Stop walking away—”
The bedroom door closed in the hound’s face, and Johnny said from the other side, “Night, boys.”
“Johnny,” Luther said warily. “Johnny? Seriously, I think you need to see a two-leg vet or something.”
The bounty hunter flopped on the king-s
ized mattress and stared at the ceiling with a sigh. There ain’t nothin’ wrong with me. I like her, is all, and now I know for sure.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The next morning, Johnny woke up at 6:15 am with more energy than he could remember at that hour. He hopped out of bed and jumped into the shower, whistling the whole time. When he’d toweled off and pulled on another pair of black Levi’s and a button-down shirt, he combed his hair, winked at himself in the mirror, and thrust the bedroom door open.
“Beautiful mornin’, ain’t it, boys?”
“What?” Luther whipped his head up from where he lay curled in front of the armchair.
“Did you forget we’re not home, Johnny?” Rex yawned, then licked his muzzle. “’Cause you don’t say ‘beautiful morning’ unless we’re about to go hunting.”
“Are we going hunting, Johnny?”
“I’m fixin’ to get breakfast. Coffee and somethin’ nice for both of us.” He moved quickly through the suite, checking his pockets for his phone and his wallet.
“Wait, both of who?” Luther glanced at his brother. “There are three of us.”
“Y’all hang tight. I won’t be long.” Humming a random tune, the dwarf practically danced toward the front door of the suite and disappeared into the hall.
“Johnny, wait. What about us, huh?”
There was no reply.
With a sigh, Luther stood and trotted toward the bedroom door left wide open. “If he’s not gonna let us out, he can’t be mad if we use the shower again, right?”
Rex followed his brother into the master bathroom. “It sounds like a fair deal to me. Hurry up. I gotta go.”
Johnny passed Lisa’s hotel room on his way to the elevators and grinned. This time, I’ll be the one wakin’ up early to bring everythin’ to her room. She deserves that much. Hot damn, what a day already.
The film crew was nowhere in sight when he reached the lobby, which only added an extra pep to his step as he strode to the front doors. Johnny smiled and greeted every hotel staff member with a “Mornin’,” and took his good mood with him into the street to head for the coffee shop and bakery three blocks down.
